The SCCA Trans Am class was at its absolute pinnacle in the early 1970s, with factory-backed efforts from Ford, Chevrolet, AMC, Dodge, and Plymouth fighting for the top spots. You’re probably one of those basic bitches that loves the Bud Moore Mustangs or the Penske Camaros, right? Yeah, everyone is. Me, I’m into the more underground stuff, the kind of thing that only the real ones know about. The Herb Adams Pontiac Tempest is the best Trans Am car of all time. What? You’ve never heard of it? Wow, and you call yourself a race fan?
OK, so back in 1970 the Chief of Special Projects for Pontiac, Herb Adams, decided he was going to get his SCCA license. Of course, he didn’t have anything to race but the car that was in his driveway, his wife’s rusty 86,000 mile 1964 Tempest. After prepping the car for a regional race in 1970 and driving circles around some Corvettes, Adams thought he might have something on his hands here. He convinced six of his fellow Pontiac engineers to pony up some cash to get the car to 1971 Trans Am rules with a 90-day thrash build. The car showed up to Lime Rock that year without sponsors and convinced racer and Group 44 team owner Bob Tullius to race the car on their behalf.
The engineers chose to make the car soft and compliant in order to keep traction on rough race surfaces of the day, and built in more camber than normal to compensate. When the rain started to fall on race day, these choices were a godsend for Tullius, who was well known as a stellar rain driver. While he started from the back thanks to a fan belt failure in qualifying, Tullius was soon dicing at the front, second only to the legendary Mark Donohue. The track announcer dubbed the car a “grey ghost” as it emerged from the misty weather as if from nowhere. A head gasket failure with mere laps remaining caused the giant boat to miss out on a win at its maiden voyage.
In 2015, John Hildebrand (father of former IndyCar racer J.R. Hildebrand) tracked down the car and commissioned its restoration, and has been vintage racing it ever since. This week he posted the car for sale on Facebook with a price of $675,000. I don’t know what the cost of the restoration was, but this is probably one of the fastest historic Trans Am cars you can buy today at any price, and certainly the coolest. If you’re looking for a new vintage race car, this is your guy right here. It’s a cool car with a cool story.